


Peachy Keen, Jellybean

by spoilerings



Series: Waiting for Wonderful [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Awkwardness, Deaf Clint Barton, First Dates, Grease Quotes, M/M, they're trying ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 05:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14709956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoilerings/pseuds/spoilerings
Summary: Bucky and Clint go on their first real date. Bucky just freaks out the entire time. All things considered, it's not horrible.





	Peachy Keen, Jellybean

**Author's Note:**

> Wowieeeee sooo it has been a solid ten months since I updated this series but hopefully some people will be excited it’s back and some other people will join the party. I PROMISE I will not give up on this series. I have Tons of Ideas.  
> This is very much un-beta’d, so beware

Bucky pretty much feels like he’s going to die.

 

The existential dread is even worse than it had been the night he went out with Natasha because now he’s going on an official date with the hot gay club bouncer Clint, and Bucky hasn’t been on an official date in at least a year - way longer than the time since he last had sex, which shouldn’t really factor into it, but it  _ does  _ \- and he feels so incredibly out of his league he doesn’t even know why he’s trying.

 

But then, as he’s pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant and thoroughly contemplating his situation, Bucky remembers the way Clint smiled at him, the things that Clint was saying, and the goddamn cuts and bruises all over Clint’s arms, and he convinces himself that the prospect of experiencing even one of those things at least once more is worth enduring his painful social anxiety for a couple hours. So, he steels himself one last time, stretches up a little to take a peek of himself in his rear-view mirror, and opens the door before he has the chance to chicken out.

 

When he gets past the hostess and starts looking around for Clint, Bucky realizes he has virtually no clue what Clint looks like when dressed up and not covered in bandages, and okay, now he’s  _ really  _ freaking out. He tries to spot a glimpse of blonde hair alone at a table, and he sees nothing. Nothing but people with dates or families or friends who are having a great time, and Bucky is suddenly hit with another wave of  _ why do I even try, I don’t deserve any of this, I should just go before anyone else has to deal with me _ . 

 

It is, of course, during his swift and shameful retreat that he bumps into a wall of man. It’s only a moment before hands wrap around his forearms - nearly making him flinch involuntarily - and he looks up to see Clint looking back at him with his stupidly beautiful face. He smiles and says, “Hey, there’s a table for us over here in the corner. Sorry if I was gone for a sec, too, I’ve just had way too much water and I figured running to the bathroom before you got here would be better than waiting.”

 

Bucky, now being gently guided -  _ oh _ , with a hand on his back - by Clint to the corner of the open floor, realizes he hasn’t said a word and should probably do so. Without making a fool of himself.  _ How do you talk, again? Right, right. _ He manages to clear his throat, finally, and asks Clint, “Have you been here for long?” Somehow he manages not to ramble about how nervous this possibility makes him. 

 

Clint smiles again as he sits down in the corner (leaving Bucky with his back to the restaurant, which is just  _ great _ ) and replies, “Nope, it’s all good. Got here maybe three minutes ago.” Bucky nods and sits down across from Clint, tries to suppress his agoraphobia, and adopts a demeanor that hopefully says  _ I’m a normal, average guy with zero anxiety or personality disorders, and I feel completely fine _ . He’s not completely sure that it will work, but the pep talk Natasha gave him before he left is enough to keep him from freaking out entirely. 

 

There’s a mildly awkward silence as they both glance at their menus. In his peripheral, Bucky sees Clint shift his gaze up toward him for a second. It makes his pulse quicken. He looks up to meet Clint’s line of sight, and Clint immediately drops it. Bucky’s pretty sure he sees a flare of light pink on Clint’s cheeks. He sets down the menu he’s been pretending to study as he is hit with a wave of courage, and tells Clint, “So, I haven’t done this whole proper date thing in a while. But I do know we should probably be talking. What’s the first thing people usually ask?”

 

Clint also puts down his menu and looks toward the ceiling, obviously searching his mind for an answer. “Maybe what we do for a living?”

 

Bucky nods a little. “Alright. So what do you do for a living?” Bucky then realizes he should really think before he speaks. Because he’s now just asked his date where he works. His date, Clint, the guy he met at a club. Where Clint was  _ working _ . “Oh, shit, I mean. I know I met you at your job, but- uhm. That was a stupid question.”

 

Clint’s eyes twinkle a little bit with something Bucky can’t quite place - it looks a bit like admiration, but Bucky’s trying not to get his hopes up. “Actually the bouncer gig is pretty uncommon. My friend works there and he occasionally has me fill in. I, uh, work full time at an ENT physician’s office.” Gauging Bucky’s reaction, Clint can tell he knows what an ENT physician is, and continues. “I’m a technician, so I work with the equipment and help fine-tune stuff like hearing aids.”

 

_ And here I thought this man couldn’t get any more perfect _ , Bucky thinks. “Wow. That sounds… pretty amazing.” He hopes this hesitant statement didn’t reveal the fact that Clint is so incredibly out of his league. “Um… Do you live with anyone? I mean, you know Natasha and I are roommates…”

 

Clint adopts a little lopsided grin at the mention of “roommate,” and Bucky tries not to instantly feel jealous about it.  _ Really, Barnes, he hasn’t even told you a thing about his roommate and you’re already nervous he has someone better than you? _ Clint, though, just continues to smile as he answers, “Well, on the human front, I live alone, but I do have a dog. His name is Lucky, and he’s pretty much my best friend other than ‘Tash.” Oh. A dog. Bucky momentarily felt jealousy toward a  _ dog _ . “He’s a rescue- well not like one from a shelter, ‘cause I actually rescued him from the mob- I mean- I don’t have any affiliation with the mob, so it’s not like- but… You know, I think I’ll stop talking now and spare you the details.”

 

Feeling a little bold, Bucky replies, “That’s alright, you can tell me the whole story some other time.” 

 

Clint smiles again, that goddamned smile that is making Bucky feel weak in the knees despite the fact that he’s sitting down, and nods. “So how about you,” he continues, “what does a guy like you get himself up to on the regular?”

 

God. Bucky hoped he wouldn’t have to talk about this. He’s embarrassed by his boring life, and his boring job, and his frankly appalling lack of education for a man his age. He almost considers romanticizing (read: completely falsifying) his answer to Clint’s question, but he supposes if he’s gotten this far, Clint must be at least somewhat immune to the more pathetic qualities of his companions. “Um. I’m a mechanic? Wow, that just sounds so glamorous when I say it out loud. Yeah, I dropped out of school about a month into junior year, and there wasn’t much else I was able to do. But I had been majoring in mechanical engineering, so I wanted to find something slightly within that realm.” Bucky’s brain  _ begs _ his mouth to stop at that point, a request which is ultimately fruitless: “It’s stupid, really, I mean fixing cars isn’t even remotely the same but. Okay, wow, I’m going to stop talking now.”

 

It’s clear after all Bucky has said that the mood has shifted to an aura of sadness and loneliness, but Clint still smiles. “I don’t think that’s stupid at all. It sounds really interesting. I mean, granted, this is coming from a guy whose life goal since high school has been to fiddle with machines all day, but.”

 

Bucky feels a little less embarrassed. Only a little. 

 

Unfortunately, an incredibly awkward silence lapses directly after this. Their server comes over to check in on them, Clint murmuring an “all good” before returning to the awkwardness, and Bucky is left to flounder for discussion topics. Hobbies? Lame. Politics? Wildly inappropriate for a first date. The existence of extraterrestrials? Intellectually harrowing and far too existential. He’s about to ask what Clint’s favorite color is - he’s desperate, okay? - when he notices something sticking out of Clint’s ears. And since his foot-in-mouth disorder is really acting up tonight, he asks, “Do you make it a habit of wearing your headset everywhere you go?” 

 

And, really, Bucky should have seen it coming - that he might say something so terrible. At first, it seems like Clint is just confused, like he doesn’t realize he has anything in his ears. He then clearly realizes  _ something _ , something that terrifies him, and yeah, Bucky is starting to get very concerned. Clint still doesn’t even respond right after that, just sort of fidgets with his neatly rolled silverware for a moment before letting out a small, ashamed chuckle, and replying, “Um. They’re actually hearing aids?” He asks, though it is not a question. “I’m, uh. Deaf.”

 

Bucky suddenly wants to be swallowed by the Earth and be burned alive, because he really believes he would deserve it. “Oh my god, I’m sorry. I mean for saying that, that was- just- gross. I had no clue.”

 

Clint smiles slightly, and it’s mixed with a grimace, but he clearly is not incredibly off-put. “It’s alright, I promise. No way you could have known.”

 

There’s a good ten seconds of both men staring at their cutlery. It feels like an eternity. Clint’s the one who decides they really need to move on from the awkward silence period of their date, so he breaks it by suggesting, “We should order some real food.”

 

Bucky’s head shoots up immediately and he’s so relieved that he’s hardly able to keep himself from screaming, “Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a- a good idea.”

 

* * *

 

James Buchanan Barnes is dangerously close to a panic attack when a server comes over with a check. Their check. For their food. The food they ordered on their date.  _ Fuck _ , he hadn’t even thought about this. His last date was  _ ages _ ago, and he had known that guy for a while before they went out, and Bucky has no clue what the hell he’s supposed to do in this situation. While he’s busy spiraling internally, Clint just pulls out his wallet and tucks his card into the pocket. This causes a short-circuit of sorts in Bucky’s brain. “Hey, listen, you don’t have to-”

 

Clint interrupts him with a simple “I want to.” He follows up by explaining, “I was the one who asked you out. Besides, you can just get the next one.”

 

Bucky freaks out a little more. If there is even anything left of him to freak. “Next one?” 

 

“Yeah, don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily, Barnes.”

 

Not knowing how else to reply, Bucky just says, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

* * *

 

By the time Clint’s gotten his card back in his wallet and they’re both standing up, Bucky’s feeling significantly more relaxed. Everything went well aside from his slight brain-to-mouth filter malfunction. He’s endlessly proud of himself for going on a date and being alive at the end of it. He’s actually kind of relieved that it’s over. As much as he loved spending time with Clint, he is ready to get in his car and just sit there for a solid five minutes to let his heart rate slow down.

 

That is, until Clint tells him that his car is on the fritz and his only option had been to take the bus to the restaurant. So, because Bucky is not an asshole, he finds himself behind the wheel of his ‘68 Camaro RS (which cost him an arm and a leg and he’s convinced he loves more than his sister) with a very nice, adorable,  _ hot _ man in the passenger seat. They’re listening to an alt-rock station, the windows are down, Clint is giving him directions between small moments of quiet singing, and Bucky feels like his heart is full - albeit nearly beating out of his chest.

 

When they pull up to Clint’s building, Bucky turns the car off so the thrum of the engine cuts out and there’s a surprisingly comfortable silence between the two of them - until Clint decides to address the obvious question hanging in the cool air. 

 

“So… I have to be at work in the morning… I mean, my apartment is a disaster anyway, so you probably wouldn’t want to see it, but… I can’t do guests tonight.”

 

“Yeah, I have work too. It’s okay. I could walk you though? It’s a rough neighborhood, you know, someone might try to mug you between here and the main door.”

 

“That’s a great idea.”

 

They walk side by side for the very brief moment it takes to reach the door. Bucky ducks his head, not wanting to see Clint’s face as he says what he’s about to say. “So. I really hope I didn’t ruin tonight by being awkward or an asshole. I had a lot of fun. And I would really like to see you again.” He looks up, then, needing to gauge Clint’s nonverbal reaction. What he finds is Clint smiling brightly, eyes roaming Bucky’s face.

 

“That sounds peachy keen, jellybean,” he replies. He waits only half a second more before he reaches a little to place the softest of kisses on Bucky’s lips. And with that, he’s opening the door and walking inside like absolutely nothing just happened. 

 

Wow. So, yeah, Bucky is definitely going to die. 

**Author's Note:**

> clint and bucky are just two absolute nightmares making it work. ((hope you enjoyed, kudos and comments VERY much appreciated :) ))


End file.
